Metalworking & Precision Manufacturing

Q. We are starting a new cleaning process and are looking for recommendations as to what cleaner(s) to use for cleaning plastics and chromated aluminum parts in a lab dishwasher. We currently use deionized water with no cleaner and are having problems.

A. Thanks for your question on how to clean chromated aluminum and plastic parts in a dishwasher. Assuming this is a residential style lab….

Q. What can we do to reduce cleaning time?  We want to be as optimal and thorough in our cleaning as possible.  

A. At Alconox Inc we recognize that manual cleaning may take minutes, spray cleaning seconds, and soaking may take hours, possibly overnight, to achieve comparable cleanliness. Read more….

Looking for a product that can lift oxidized silver along with other metals off of our glass and plastics. We are using an automated washer that takes a liquid concentrate. We need to move away from HCl, and dish soap and bleach don’t work. Manual cleaning can be considered but not preferred for the silver oxide.

We are running some cleaning trials with several of your detergents in our lab on a difficult to remove resin.  There was no indication of solvating with solid flakes and particles of resin crashing to bottom.  Can you provide an alternative detergent? Detergents are a synergistic blend of several cleaning ingredients (as opposed to soap). Ways detergents clean therefore….

Q: We reenact Civil War battles and need to clean the bayonets, rifles and assorted other metal parts.  We came across Alconox as a source for safely cleaning these important pieces.  The residues are largely rust and pine tar.  What would you recommend?

A: Cleaning steel used in reenactments as you describe certainly helps in establishing the proper setting for the show.  Cleaning tool steel (also called mild steel) requires a little bit of effort to ensure flash rusting does not occur during rinsing.  To avoid this….